Objections fail, tax district enacted for Red Mill Pond fix

A judge ruled Monday to enact a proposed special assessment district to pay for an estimated $315,000 in dam repairs at Tecumseh’s Red Mill Pond.

The tax district is limited to 49 parcels of land on the shore of the small lake or that have access to the water. A spokesman for pond residents argued at Monday’s hearing in Lenawee County Circuit Court for a larger district that would have property owners with a view of Red Mill Pond sharing the cost of maintaining it.

Noe said she could not equate a view of the water with owning shoreline or a navigable easement to the pond. She ruled to accept a district as drawn up by an engineering firm last year.

“If we had known such a small group would be involved in the assessment district, I’m not sure we would all have been involved in the petition,” said resident Robert Stross. He spoke for Friends of Red Mill Pond, a group of property owners who petitioned the Lenawee County Drain Commission last year for a dam repair project to save the pond.

Stross said he surveyed property owners near the pond and found agreement to paying a “nominal annual fee” to maintain the water level.

“We would like to see a broader look at the assessment district,” said group leader Frank Quinn. “It’s a well-known fact you pay for the view wherever you go.”

Drain Commissioner Stephen May testified the criteria used to draw the proposed district is the same as used at seven other lakes in Lenawee County with legally established water levels. No properties near any of the other lakes have been assessed for a view of the water, he said. Taxes are assessed based on access to the water, he said.

“We selected a conventional approach that was very defensible,” said engineer Claire Schwartz when she testified about how district borders were drawn by the firm Fishbeck, Thompson, Carr and Huber Inc. of Grand Rapids.

Dan Maves asked the court to remove a 10-acre parcel with lake frontage owned by his company, Newberg Meadows LLC. The land is all farmed and wooded, he said, with no prospect of residential development in today’s real estate market.

Tecumseh Township Supervisor Roy Schlegel presented a letter asking that several lots on Tonneberger Drive and some other property in the township not be included in the district.

No changes were ordered in the draft plan, moving the project on to the next step toward dam repairs this fall.

“The next thing we need to start is the permits for the drawdown. That is critical,” May said.

State permits are needed to lower the water level enough for the dam to be repaired. The project also has to be bid out to contractors. Once an exact cost is determined, May said, the drain commission staff is to decide how to divide the expense among the 49 parcels in the district.

Cost apportionments are expected to be presented in July, he said.

“Anytime you have a project like this, it’s the toughest part,” May said. “Somehow we have to come up with a methodology that’s fair.”

Red Mill Pond is more complicated than most lakes, he said, because there are large tracts of shoreline with no homes or buildings.